The seat had become vacant on 27 February 1982, when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Sir Ronald Bell, died at the age of 67.

The Conservative candidate was Tim Smith, aged 34, who had been the surprise winner of the 1977 Ashfield by-election, where he overturned a Labour Party majority of nearly 23,000 votes.

With the SDP winning three of four by-elections since its formation in March 1981, The Glasgow Herald speculated that the new party threatened the Conservatives' hold on Beaconsfield.

The Glasgow Herald's William Russell stated that the outcome "firmly endorsed" the First Thatcher Ministry's conduct of the war.

[1] Smith held the seat until the 1997 general election, when in March 1997 he was forced to stand down at the last minute over the cash-for-questions affair.

Despite the party's poor showing Blair was regarded as having fought a good campaign, and he was selected as Labour candidate for the newly created safe seat of Sedgefield in County Durham.